Saturday, September 30, 2006

Okay, I've started caring about the midterm elections again

Posted by Raznor

As pissed off as I am by the spinelessness of the Democrats in Washington right now, I fully agree with Glenn Greenwald here:

But that's all besides the point at the moment, because -- right now -- everyone has to answer for themselves these questions: (1) do you believe that the incalculable damage imposed on this country by the Bush administration and its followers (including in Congress) can be impeded and then reversed and, if so, (2) how can that be accomplished? For those who have given up and believe the answer to question (1) is "no," then, by definition, there is nothing to discuss. You' ve decided that there is no hope, that you're done fighting and trying to defend any of your beliefs and principles, and you're ready to cede the country to those who are in the process of destroying it.

But for those who believe that the answer to question (1) is "yes" (and I believe that emphatically), then the answer to question (2) seems self-evidently clear. The most important and overriding mandate is to end the one-party rule to which our country has been subjected for the last four years. Achieving that is necessary -- it is an absolute pre-requisite -- to begin to impose some actual limits on the authoritarian behavior and unchecked powers of this administration -- because, right now, there are no such limits.

Frankly, I fear that the answer to (1) is "yes". But that doesn't mean that I should act under that assumption.

Right now, I suspect that Democrats have simply handed the Republicans a victory in November by deflating their base. And I'm unsure if even Democratic control of both houses would do much to prevent Bush from doing everything he wants.

But I know with utter certainty that 2 more years of Republican control of the government is more than this country can afford. On one path lies certain death. On the other, merely near-certain death. The other is the path we must take.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

You know what - I no longer give a fuck who wins the midterm elections

Seriously, judging from the reaction of Senate Democrats and Democratic leadership, I see no reason to believe that Democratic control of one or both houses will in any way inhibit the power grab by the Bush Administration. Bush says the word "terrorism" and Democrats fucking shit their pants.

Show me one prominent Democrat -just one - taking the moral highground here. The future of this nation is at stake moreso than at any other time, and they sit by and let Bush and the Republicans do whatever they want.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Raznor - Seattle Blogger

Posted by Raznor

So, if you were wondering why blogging's been light here this last week, no it's not due merely to laziness. I've spent the last week moving to Seattle, which involved packing, driving for three days, unpacking and now that my futon/bed has arrived, I consider myself totally moved in. So, yeah, I'm a Seattler, or Seattlean, whatever you call it. Huzzah for me.

Report Dan Glickman!!!!

Before I submitted the film, I called up the administration of the ratings board, and I said, “Can you assure me that there will be no copies made of this?” And they assured me, in writing, in e-mail, and on the phone, that not only would no copies be made, but that only the raters would see it. Well, I subsequently learned that an MPAA attorney had seen it. I learned that [MPAA president] Dan Glickman had seen it…

I got a call from an MPAA attorney who said “Look, Kirby, I have to tell you, we have made a copy of your film. But you don’t have to worry, because it’s safe in my vault.” [Laughs.] I can tell you that wasn’t reassuring. In a way I wasn’t surprised, but on the other hand, there’s such hypocrisy there. The MPAA has launched this huge antipiracy campaign, and on their website they define even one act of unauthorized duplication of material as piracy. And that’s exactly what they did.

Ampersand notes that the MPAA has a number you can call to report piracy: 1-800-662-6797. Or you can fill out this this web form. Are we going to let Dan Glickman get away with this blatant act of piracy? Me, I'm filling out the web form, and I urge all of you to report this as well.